Friday, July 27, 2007

IP-PBXs: What to Look for in a Bestof- Breed Solution

Legacy PBXs Foil Enterprise Attempts to Reduce OpEx

Until recently, legacy PBX vendors based their legacy product on proprietary extensions, locking enterprises in for peripherals and added features/ capabilities, and charging excessively in the bargain.

Many legacy PBXs were available in a fragmented market. Enterprise integration and maintenance was difficult and costly. Each legacy product had its own quirks and eccentricities that required attention. This situation was troublesome to enterprises trying to reduce their operational expenses (OpEx).

Vendors commit to interoperability, freeing enterprises to choose from options

With SIP becoming the de-facto standard protocol for interoperable IP telephony equipment, no longer must the enterprise fall hostage to a single PBX vendor. In contrast to yesteryear, vendors are now committed to interoperability. Enterprises are therefore now free to choose a standards-based, best-of-breed solution. Enterprises can mix and match IP PBX software, media gateways, PC hardware platforms, applications (voicemail, unified messaging [Microsoft entering the Unified Messaging and Unified Communications world marks a turning point], IVR, recording, billing, etc.) and IP phones from different leading vendors. Enterprises can now choose - from multiple options - the best of each component's breed in the solution. An IP phone can be taken from one shelf, IP software from another, a messaging platform can be selected from a third vendor and a media gateway chosen from a fourth. The enterprise can deploy the four best-of-breed products together and they'll all interoperate successfully. Interoperability is probably the most significant factor to look for in bestof- breed solutions.

For a good FAQ on VOIP and SIP check here.

Read the whole article at this page.